This invention relates to guns in general and in particular to guns suitable for firing pellets or paintballs using compressed gas.
A variety of guns are already known for firing BB's, pellets and, more recently, paintballs. Many of these guns employ a cylinder filled with compressed gas as a source of the compressed gas. These cylinders are sometimes mounted in the handle of the gun and sometimes at the rear of the gun. Also, a variety of trigger and sear mechanisms have been employed in such guns in the past in order to fire the gun and release the compressed gas into the barrel.
The more recent paintball guns can be used in mock "war games" wherein the users of the guns attempt to hit other game participants with a paint pellet. Goggles and other protective wear can be worn during such games to prevent injury. These guns have a larger calibre barrel than previously known BB and pellet guns due to the size of the paintballs used. Semi-automatic guns have been developed for firing paintballs as they are quickly able to fire a number of paintballs by the simple operation of pulling the trigger. In such guns the compressed gas is used not only to fire the paintball from the barrel but also to recock the gun.
Canadian patent No. 1,264,128 which issued Jan. 2, 1990 to Brass Eagle Inc. describes a gun suitable for firing paintballs wherein the source of compressed gas is held in a tube located above the barrel of the gun. The paintballs are able to drop individually into the rear end of the barrel through an opening. The gun is loaded by pulling back on a slidable pump member which slides along the exterior of the barrel. A final rearward movement of this pump member pulls a hammer rearward against the pressure of a hammer spring. Rearward movement of the pump member also draws a bolt rearwardly so that a paintball can drop into the barrel.
Recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,939 which issued Sep. 27, 1994 to Brass Eagle Inc. describes a semi-automatic gun having a special trigger and sear mechanism for firing the gun. A hammer is slidably mounted in a breech section of the gun and is rigidly connected by means of a rod to a bolt used to load individual balls into the rear end of the barrel. Mounted between the hammer and the bolt is a gas valve unit that includes a movable valve stem which is struck by the hammer when the gun is fired. This stem is biased rearwardly by a valve spring. The sear device is pivotally mounted on a sear pin which extends through an elongate pole formed in the sear device. There is a sear detent slidably mounted in a front end of the sear and a spring biases this detent to a forward position in order to be engagable by the trigger. The rear end of the sear device is biased upwardly by means of a sear spring so that the sear device will re-engage with the hammer after the gun is fired and the hammer moves back to a rearward position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reasonably inexpensive and reliable gun for firing pellets or balls using compressed gas, which gun employs a unique trigger and sear mechanism for firing the gun.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gun for firing pellets or balls using compressed gas wherein the hammer and the bolt of the gun are rigidly connected together for simultaneous sliding movement, the connection being two rigid links positioned on opposite sides of the hammer and bolt. The connecting arrangement helps to distribute the forces acting on the hammer and other working parts evenly during operation of the gun.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a gun of the aforementioned type which employs a unique, separate, unitary metal housing for the gas valve system, which housing not only provides a gas chamber for compressed gas but also a sleeve section in which the hammer is able to slide.